W&L Women's Basketball Notes - Week 14

MEDIA NOTE
Following the game, Head Coach Christine Clancy or a player takes a minute to answer some questions about her team's performance. The interview is normally up 20 minutes after the game and can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/wlusports.

THE HEAD GENERAL
Christine Clancy (Brandeis '06) is in her second season as the head coach at Washington and Lee after serving as the assistant coach during the 2011-12 season. In her first season at the helm of the program, Clancy led a W&L team picked to finish last in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference to the No. 8 seed out of 12 teams for the conference tournament. The Generals won a first round contest before falling to top-seeded Eastern Mennonite, 68-58, in the quarterfinals. W&L ended the season with a 9-16 overall record and finished among the league leaders in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense. Coach Clancy's overall record as a head coach is 37-40.

ALL-TIME RECORD
The Washington and Lee women's basketball program is participating in its 21st varsity season during the 2013-14 school year. Over that period of time, the Generals have compiled a 230-298 (.436) overall record and have won one Old Dominion Athletic Conference title (2010).

LAST TIME OUTGuilford 72, W&L 55 • Greensboro, N.C. • 2/22/14
Guilford held the Generals to just 32.2 percent shooting (19-59) en route to posting a 60-48 victory over the Washington and Lee at Ragan-Brown Field House. W&L (6-18, 4-12) jumped out to an early 8-5 lead at the 16:10 mark after two free-throws from sophomore forward Shelbi Hendricks. Guilford (19-6, 11-5) responded with two consecutive baskets to take the lead (9-8) and saw its advantage grow to 19 points (41-22) going into intermission. The Generals opened the second half with an 11-3 run, capped by a jumper from sophomore forward Wesleigh Vick, to pull within 13 points (46-33) with 10:51 left to play. The Quakers then scored eight quick points to squelch the Generals' momentum and take a 54-33 lead with 8:14 on the clock. W&L turned the ball over just three times for the remainder of the game and shot 6-for-11 (.545) from the floor, but could not overcome the 21-point deficit. For the game, the Quakers shot 45.8 percent from the floor (27-59) and out-rebounded the Generals, 41-33. First-year forward Samantha Sharman led the Generals' offense, finishing with 12 points. Sophomore guard Paige Corvino added 11 points and two steals, while Vick tallied 10 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Morgan King paced the Quakers with 15 points and six rebounds. Fellow senior forward Gabby Oglesby tallied 14 points and a team-high eight boards. First-year guard Anais Weatherly chipped in six points, five rebounds and four assists.

THE ROANOKE SERIES
W&L and Roanoke will be facing off for the 40th time, with the Maroons holding a 32-7 edge in the all-time series. The two teams split the series during the regular season, with W&L claiming a 67-63 victory in Lexington on November 26, and Roanoke defeating the Blue and White, 72-55, in Salem on February 8.

SCOUTING THE MAROONS
Roanoke enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed, finishing the regular season with a 12-12 overall record and an 8-8 ODAC mark after defeating Shenandoah, 63-46, on Friday. The Maroons out-rebounded Shenandoah, 44-38, and forced the Hornets into 15 turnovers. Senior guard Laurel Hankins led RC in scoring with 20 points, while senior guard Paxton Gwin recorded 17 points. Junior guard Tatum McKee chipped in nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds. For the season, Gwin leads the team at 18.7 points per game, while Hankins adds 12.5 points per outing. McKee adds 9.7 points per game, while recording a team-high 5.1 rebounds per contest.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE MAROONS • RC 72, W&L 55 (2/8/14)
Washington and Lee shot just 28.4 percent (19-67) from the floor in falling to Roanoke by a score of 72-55 in the Bast Center. The Generals hung within two possessions of the lead until an 18-4 run stretched a six-point lead (20-14) out to 18 points (38-20) with just 1:40 left in the first half. W&L hit just 1-of-11 shots from the floor over a stretch of 7:09 as the Maroons seized control of the contest behind seven points from senior guard Laurel Hankins. W&L shot just 9-of-34 (.265) from the floor and was 2-of-11 (.182) from three in the first half en route to a 38-24 deficit at the break. Roanoke then opened the second half with a 13-4 surge behind six points from senior guard Paxton Gwin to open a 51-28 lead with 13:39 left in the game. The Generals cut it to a 13-point game (57-44) with 8:29 left following a 10-2 run that featured five points from first-year guard Cam Tyler, but Roanoke went on an immediate 8-0 run and W&L never challenged from that point forward. The Generals committed just 12 turnovers in the contest, but simply could not overcome their frigid shooting. Sophomore forwards Shelbi Hendricks and Katie Wildes, and Tyler tied for the team lead with nine points each. Junior guard Annie Gauf added eight points and tied a career high with nine rebounds. However, she hit just 3-of-18 shots from the field. Gwin paced the Maroons with 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Junior guard Tatum McKee chipped in 12 points and a game-high 13 boards. As a team, Roanoke shot 41.7 percent (30-72) from the floor while holding a 49-43 advantage on the glass.

ODAC TOURNAMENT FORMAT
If W&L records an upset over No. 6 Roanoke, the Generals will travel to Salem, Va., to partake in the quarterfinals of the 2014 ODAC Tournament at the Salem Civic Center. The Blue and White would face the No. 3 seed, Lynchburg, for an 8:00 pm contest. W&L and Lynchburg split the series this season, with the Generals picking up the most recent win over the Hornets in overtime (67-63) on February 15.

THE LYNCHBURG SERIES
W&L and Lynchburg could face off for the 41st time, with the Generals holding a 21-19 edge in the all-time series. The Hornets last defeated W&L, 63-46, on January 15 in Lexington.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
This year marks the 22nd berth to the ODAC Tournament for W&L. The Generals are currently 8-13 (.381) overall and 1-1 (.500) under Coach Clancy. The Generals have won at least one game in every tournament since the 2009-10 season when they captured the program's first and only tournament title. The Generals have never faced Lynchburg in the tournament, but have faced Roanoke once, which came during the 1999-00 season. The Maroons defeated the Generals, 72-58, and went on to claim their 13th tournament championship.

LAST TIME AGAINST ROANOKE IN THE ODAC TOURNAMENT
Washington and Lee committed 18 turnovers and shot just 29 percent in the first half en route to dropping a 72-58 decision to Roanoke in the quarterfinals of the ODAC Tournament in Salem, Va. The Maroons, propelled by 42 percent first half shooting and W&L's lackluster performance, cruised to a 40-21 halftime advantage. The Generals clawed back in the second half to cut the Roanoke lead to just 12 points (66-54) with 3:13 remaining, but could get no closer as their season came to an end. For the game, W&L committed 26 turnovers and shot just 35 percent from the floor. Roanoke shot just 24 percent in the second half, but committed just 14 turnovers for the game. Sophomore Honorable Mention All-ODAC forward Jessica Mentz led the Generals with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Senior guard Ansley Miller scored 11 points to end her career with a school-record 1,165 points, while sophomore forward Carter Thomas tallied 10 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Honorable Mention All-ODAC center Megan Babst added 11 rebounds for the Generals. Roanoke was led by Suzanne Webb with 14 points. Crystal Barrett added 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Carrie McConnell tallied eight points and a game-high six assists.

PLAYING FROM BEHIND
If the 11th-seeded Generals are going to have a chance at upsetting the Maroons, it will help if they are holding a lead at intermission. W&L is 1-15 when trailing at halftime this season, but have a 5-3 record leading at the break. In the win over Roanoke at home earlier this season, the Blue and White were leading at the half, 29-26. In the loss at Roanoke, W&L was trailing, 38-24, at intermission.

TOURNAMENT STATISTICS
Junior guard Annie Gauf has made an appearance in all four tournament games during her career as a General. She has averaged 29 minutes per game and an impressive 70 percent (7-10) from the foul line. She also averaged 2.5 assists per game. Sophomore forward Wesleigh Vick led the first-years last season, making an appearance in both tournament games. She averaged 22 minutes and 5.5 points per game. She also pulled in nine rebounds to average 4.5 per contest. Sophomore forward Shelbi Hendricks wasn't far behind, averaging 4.0 points and 25 minutes of action. She went 4-for-7 from the field to average 57.1 percent and pulled in 3.0 rebounds per game. She also recorded 1.5 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.0 block per contest.

RECORD WATCH
Junior guard Annie Gauf leads the team with 78 assists on the year and 197 for her career. She is just 16 away from moving into the Top 10 in W&L record book for career assists. Kristen Krouchick (2004-2008) currently sits in 10th place with 213 assists.

CHARMAIN OF THE BOARDS
Sophomore forward Wesleigh Vick notched a then career-high in rebounds in a loss to Randolph-Macon by recording 13 rebounds in 29 minutes of action. She tallied 11 defensive boards and two offensive rebounds. She then eclipsed her own top mark the next day against Randolph. In that game, she notched a career-high 15 rebounds in 33 minutes. She claimed nine defensive rebounds and six offensive boards. She leads the team, averaging 8.3 rebounds per contest (191 total), and ranks sixth in the ODAC. She also ranks fourth in the conference in defensive rebounds per game (6.6). For her career, she has tallied 297 rebounds to average 5.8 per game.